Thankfully Lance Franklin provided a big time highlight for the Swans fans after kicking two goals in the term to move past former Essendon player Matthew Lloyd into seventh on the all-time goalkicking list.

“What we call in league football a ‘downhill skier’ — when it’s going your way, they charge.

“You know how they have the (GPS) monitors in the back of their jumper that tells you how hard they run and how long they ran? I guarantee you 90 per cent of (Melbourne’s) midfield — let’s say you’ve got a rotation of eight midfielders through there — at least seven of them would run 30 per cent harder in their team goal direction then going the other way.

”Across the board, without a doubt, they are downhill skiers, that team.”

“Even early on when Melbourne were in front, we were commenting that the St Kilda system was standing out. They had a lot of inside 50s against and low scores against. Every time St Kilda went in, they scored,” Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos told Fox Footy.

“At the moment, unfortunately, Simon Goodwin’s team clearly aren’t adhering to what he wants them to do because there’s no recognisable system you can see.”

Everything wrong with Melbourne at the moment summarised in one stoppage:

Paddy Ryder was the target of a disgraceful comment.Source:Getty Images

Port Adelaide has slammed racist jabs aimed at star ruckman Paddy Ryder after last night’s win over West Coast in Perth.

A picture of Ryder celebrating the Power’s 13.17 (95) to 8.5 (53) victory was uploaded to Fox Footy’s social media account but one man put three images of bananas in the Facebook comments.

Another person commented with a picture of a banana stand.

Many users blasted the racist comments and Port Adelaide weighed in with a statement on Saturday.

“Racism has no place in the AFL or our society more broadly,” it read. “It is divisive, hurtful and not welcome.

“The Port Adelaide Football Club is aware of a racist social media post directed at Paddy Ryder following last night’s game in Perth.

“Port Adelaide will support Paddy and its Indigenous players in dealing with the impact of this cowardly and ignorant comment, but it is clear that the AFL and its member clubs must remain vigilant in coming together to eradicate this behaviour.

“Paddy and all Indigenous players across our competition deserve so much better.”

AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh labelled the incident a “disgrace” on Twitter and Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson also used social media to express his disgust.

Port star Travis Boak also weighed in.

Proud moment: the way Paddy Ryder played in Port’s huge win. Not a proud moment: trolls who continue to vilify our Indigenous players. You’re both a disgrace and have been reported. pic.twitter.com/CGdpKDFTH0

Adelaide revealed it had investigated the matter and found a Crows member was responsible for at least some of the trolling.

“We have been made aware a 3-Game Member racially vilified Port Adelaide’s Paddy Ryder via social media last night,” the Crows said.

“This person’s membership has been suspended indefinitely. Racism has no place in our society.”

The ugly development comes after players like Eddie Betts, Majak Daw and Liam Ryan were targeted by racist trolls online earlier this year.

12pm

Eagles blame new stadium for injuries

West Coast coach Adam Simpson has declared his team might stop training at Optus Stadium after Tom Barrass became the latest Eagle to fall victim to the hard turf.

Barrass was a late withdrawal from Friday night’s 42-point loss to Port Adelaide after succumbing to a foot injury.

It’s not yet known how serious the injury is, but Simpson fears it could potentially be a stress-related problem.

The Eagles have been plagued by foot and lower leg injuries over the summer, with Simpson thinking the damage has been caused by the hardness of Optus Stadium.

The $1.6 billion stadium came under fire last year because of its hardness, with Sydney star Lance Franklin missing three games with a heel injury that the Swans attributed to the turf.

West Coast currently has goalsneak Willie Rioli sidelined with a foot injury, while Elliot Yeo and Jamie Cripps battled toe injuries during the off-season. Measures were taken last season to soften the Optus Stadium turf, and the AFL’s numerous tests have shown the venue complies with the league’s standards. But the Eagles still aren’t satisfied.

“We’re going to have to stop training here, that’s pretty obvious,” Simpson said. “It’s a bit like when you get asked, ‘Do you want to train at the G?’ Of course you do, but we’re losing players.

“So until that ground (Optus Stadium) becomes better for both us and Fremantle, we might have to avoid training here.”

The Eagles aren’t exactly receiving a home ground advantage.Source:Getty Images

The Eagles will assess Barrass further in the coming days to determine the extent of the injury.

“Our list is pretty healthy, but whenever we lose a player it seems to be a lower leg injury,” Simpson said. “His (Barrass) foot has pulled up sore. It pulled up sore (on Thursday).

“We’re assessing whether it’s another stress-related injury, which would probably be our seventh in the last 20 games.”

Simpson stressed that the hard ground was not to blame for his team’s inept display against Port. The Power won the inside 50m count 69-38, and opened up a 49-point lead by halftime in pouring rain.

The Eagles have struggled whenever they have been forced to confront slippery conditions this season, and Simpson said it was an area he would look into.

Port Adelaide improved its record to 3-2 with the 13.17 (95) to 8.5 (53) win, and coach Ken Hinkley pointed out how the injection of youth this season had energised the squad.

Willem Drew, Xavier Duursma, Connor Rozee and Zak Butters all played against the Eagles, and Hinkley said the mix between youth and experience had been crucial in the team’s success.

“Gee that’s one part that’s hard not to get carried away on,” Hinkley said. “I would say it’s a massively big tick for the connection of the group the way they’ve quickly come together.”